Domestication in the silver fox (Vulpes fulvus Desm): Changes in physiological boundaries of the sensitive period of primary socialization

Belyaev, D. K.; Plyusnina, I. Z.; Trut, Lyudmila N.

doi:10.1016/0168-1591(85)90015-2

Cited by 149 publications

(114 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Third, the behavioral differences can have a more specific genetic basis selected for during domestication. A good example for this was the selection for ''tame'' behavior toward humans (approaching human hand) in ''domesticated'' foxes, which resulted in a prolonged capacity of socialization (Belyaev, Plyusnina, & Trut, 1985). These differences could be based on various aspects of the developmental process, for example, on a decreased specificity of the learning constraints or on a change in the duration of the sensitive period.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Species-specific differences and similarities in the behavior of hand-raised dog and wolf pups in social situations with humans

et al. 2005

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In order to reveal early species-specific differences, we observed the behavior of dog puppies (n ¼ 11) and wolf pups (n ¼ 13) hand raised and intensively socialized in an identical way. The pups were studied in two object-preference tests at age 3, 4, and 5 weeks. After a short isolation, we observed the subjects' behavior in the presence of a pair of objects, one was always the subject's human foster parent (caregiver) and the other was varied; nursing bottle (3 weeks), unfamiliar adult dog (3 and 5 weeks), unfamiliar experimenter (4 and 5 weeks), and familiar conspecific age mate (4 weeks). Dogs and wolves did not differ in their general activity level during the tests. Wolf pups showed preference for the proximity of the caregiver in two of the tests; Bottle-Caregiver at the age of 3 weeks and Experimenter-Caregiver at the age of 5 weeks, while dogs showed preference to the caregiver in three tests; conspecific Pup-Caregiver and Experimenter-Caregiver at the age of 4 weeks and dog-caregiver at the age of 5. Compared to wolves, dogs tended to display more communicative signals that could potentially facilitate social interactions, such as distress vocalization, tail wagging, and gazing at the humans' face. In contrast to dog puppies, wolf pups showed aggressive behavior toward a familiar experimenter and also seemed to be more prone to avoidance. Our results demonstrate that already at this early age-despite unprecedented intensity of socialization and the comparable social (human) environment during early development-there are specific behavioral differences between wolves and dogs mostly with regard to their interactions with humans.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Species-specific differences and similarities in the behavior of hand-raised dog and wolf pups in social situations with humans

et al. 2005

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“…A famous example of the importance of reduced fear of humans during the early phases of domestication, is the suite of correlated phenotypic responses related to tameness in silver foxes (Vulpes vulpes) (Belyaev et al, 1985). Traits typical of domesticates emerged in few generations, such as piebaldness, modified body proportions, floppy ears and modifications of the jaw, in spite of selection being targeted only on tameness (Trut et al, 2004), suggesting genetic correlations between reduced fear of humans and important aspects of the domesticated phenotype.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Red Junglefowl (Gallus gallus) selected for low fear of humans are larger, more dominant and produce larger offspring

Agnvall

Ali

Olby

et al. 2014

Animal

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Many traits associated with domestication are suggested to have developed as correlated responses to reduced fear of humans. Tameness may have reduced the stress of living in human proximity and improved welfare in captivity. We selected Red Junglefowl (ancestors of all domestic chickens) for four generations on high or low fear towards humans, mimicking an important aspect of the earliest period of domestication, and tested birds from the third and fourth generation in three different social tests. Growth and plumage condition, as well as size of eggs and offspring were also recorded, as indicators of some aspects of welfare. Birds selected for low fear had higher weight, laid larger eggs and generated larger offspring, and had a better plumage condition. In a social dominance test they also performed more aggressive behaviour and received less of the same, regardless of whether the restricted resource was feed or not. Hence, dominance appeared to increase as a consequence of reduced fear of humans. Furthermore, egg size and the weight of the offspring were larger in the less fearful birds, and plumage condition better, which could be interpreted as the less fearful animals being better adapted to the environment in which they were selected.

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“…Another reason for the detected negative effects of handling in the foxes in the present study might be that later routine handling, with its possibly negative nature, surmounted the positive effects of early handling (Hargreaves and Hutson 1990, Hemsworth and Barnett 1992, Pedersen 1994. Furthermore, one could also hypothesise that the animals who had received intense human handling during their sensitive period (Belyaev et al 1985) might have felt yearning for human contact and, therefore, experienced long-term stress when it was missing later in their life.…”

Section: Early Handlingmentioning

confidence: 84%

“…However, most of the experiments have succeeded in reducing fear reactions towards humans by handling procedures (pigs: Hemsworth et al 1987, Pearce et al 1989, Hemsworth and Barnett 1991, Paterson and Pearce 1992, Barnett et al 1994sheep: Hargreaves and Hutson 1990;silver foxes: Pedersen and Jeppesen 1990, Pedersen 1992. The present results showed, that if any effect of early handling, performed before (0-3 weeks of age) and during the sensitive period of primary socialisation (3-6 and 3-9 weeks of age for unselected foxes and for foxes selected for domestic behaviour, respectively, Belyaev et al 1985), on measured parameters was seen, this effect in blue foxes was positive only during the first weeks post-handling (higher body mass in August) and turned to be negative some months after handling (heavier adrenals, higher serum cortisol level after ACTH administration at pelting time). Furthermore, contrary to earlier studies where handling silver fox cubs six consecutive weeks pre-weaning reduced fearfulness of the cubs (Pedersen 1992), the present results revealed no effect of handling on a later fear reaction towards humans in blue foxes, as indicated by the results of the feeding tests.…”

Section: Early Handlingmentioning

confidence: 91%

Effects of group size and early handling on some behavioural and physiological welfare parameters in farmed blue foxes

Ahola

Harri²,

Mononen³

et al. 2002

AFSci

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The present study included two procedures, both aimed at improving animal welfare: early handling and changing the social conditions of the animals. Production and welfare related parameters as well as behaviour were assessed in blue fox (Alopex lagopus) cubs who were either handled or not before weaning, and housed after weaning either in pairs or in six-animal groups. The effect of the larger group size was observed in the larger number of bite scars in the female cubs housed in six-animal groups. Furthermore, the group size seemed to affect the performance of foxes most clearly in the late autumn when intra-litter aggression was observed during the feeding test. On the other hand, early handling had only short-term positive effects on the performance of the foxes but later transpired to have a negative impact on the stress profile of these animals.

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Domestication in the silver fox (Vulpes fulvus Desm): Changes in physiological boundaries of the sensitive period of primary socialization

Cited by 149 publications

References 4 publications

Species-specific differences and similarities in the behavior of hand-raised dog and wolf pups in social situations with humans

Species-specific differences and similarities in the behavior of hand-raised dog and wolf pups in social situations with humans

Red Junglefowl (Gallus gallus) selected for low fear of humans are larger, more dominant and produce larger offspring

Effects of group size and early handling on some behavioural and physiological welfare parameters in farmed blue foxes

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